Melbourne United fighting history to beat Perth Wildcats, claim title
Melbourne United have twice been foiled in Perth by the Wildcats this season, but on Friday they will have the chance to atone in game one of the NBL grand final series.
The reigning NBL champions secured their place in the season-decider with a 90-76 game two win over the Sydney Kings on Sunday as they claimed a 2-0 semi-final series sweep.
Last year Melbourne needed a last-second buzzer-beater to overcome the New Zealand Breakers and win their semi-final series. This time Boone was putting the exclamation mark on victory with a powerful one-handed dunk with two minutes to play.
Melbourne were irresistible in both wins over the Kings, who showed their inexperience in finals series as Melbourne repeatedly won the big moments and dictated the tempo and tone of the contest.
Casper Ware (30 points) was stunning in the opening term with 17 points while Chris Goulding was just as captivating in the second and third terms scoring all his 23 points in that time as Melbourne took a match-winning advantage.
"We got the job done, we worked hard for this moment but the job is not done," Ware told Fox Sports after the game.
DJ Kennedy was also outstanding in the physical moments and he came up with several key baskets in the last term to kill off the contest.
But Perth will be a far tougher opponent, especially as they will have home-court advantage after finishing on top of the ladder, meaning they host game one, game three and a deciding game five if needed.
The Wildcats also swept their semi-final opponents, the Brisbane Bullets, with imports Bryce Cotton and Terrico White coming up big and Australian stars Damian Martin and Nick Kay lifting for the occasion.
"We knew with Perth winning on Saturday it was important we came out and wrapped this things up," Goulding told Fox Sports.
"We wanted to wrap it up and now we head home to Melbourne to get our bodies right and be ready to rock in game one."
Melbourne beat Perth twice in Melbourne this season but they lost twice in Perth, the first loss a controversial in double-overtime game that was decided by an incorrect charge call on Ware in the final moments of the first overtime.
The season won't be a waste for the Kings, who re-established themselves as a power in the league behind Andrew Bogut's MVP season - they attracted a season-best crowd of 14,569 at Qudos Bank Arena and will be poised to go further next season.
Kings coach Andrew Gaze bowed out with grace, subbing off his key players when the game was decided and speaking warmly with Jerome Randle and Kevin Lisch as they exited. Bogut's exit was more businesslike, but the big centre isn't one for hugging after a loss.
History will be against Melbourne with Perth having won the title four times out of five times after finishing on top.
The one exception was in 1993 when Andrew and Lindsay Gaze pushed the then Melbourne Tigers to their first championship in the face of a fired-up Perth crowd.
If any Melbourne side is equipped to match that feat, it is United.
The NBL grand final series tips off in Perth on Friday at 9.30pm AEDT and continues with game two at Melbourne Arena on Sunday at 2.30pm AEDT.
The NBL is yet to confirm the dates for games three, four and five as they finalise stadium availability and TV schedules.